LIFE MAPPER project logo

Key facts

  • Full title: Guidelines for MAPping, ProtEcting, and Restoring Marine Ecosystems
  • Programme: LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Action
  • Call topic: LIFE-2024-PLP-NAT-ENV, projects addressing ad hoc legislative and policy priorities
  • Type of action: LIFE Project Grant
  • Duration: 36 months
  • Coordinator: National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
  • Consortium: 7 partners from 3 countries
  • EuroMarine role: service provider for the expert consultation on marine habitat condition and restoration
  • Project: 101213793

Context of the call

LIFE MAPPER was funded under the 2024 LIFE call for projects addressing ad hoc legislative and policy priorities (LIFE-2024-PLP). These projects respond to specific EU policy needs, in this case the implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation, which requires Member States to map, assess and restore marine habitats.

Objectives

  • Develop guidelines for mapping marine habitats, selecting suitable technologies and analysing the costs and benefits of mapping benthic habitat types.
  • Create methodologies to assess habitat quality, quantity and connectivity, and identify reference conditions for habitats and species.
  • Provide guidelines for selecting restoration methods, identifying knowledge gaps and estimating the costs of habitat restoration.
  • Develop a framework for prioritising conservation and restoration actions, to maximise ecological benefits and optimise the allocation of resources.

Consortium

LIFE MAPPER is coordinated by the National Research Council of Italy and brings together research institutions, universities and a space technology company from Italy, Greece and Ireland. EuroMarine member organisations are marked with an asterisk (*).

  • National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Italy, coordinator *
  • Marche Polytechnic University, Italy
  • University of Naples Federico II, Italy *
  • Space42 Europe, Italy
  • University of the Aegean, Greece *
  • University of Galway, Ireland *
  • Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Italy

EuroMarine's contribution

The EuroMarine Secretariat supports the consortium as a service provider. It designs, distributes and analyses the questionnaires addressed to experts in marine habitat condition assessment, helping to define criteria for assessing habitat condition and to identify thresholds and favourable areas for restoration. The first round of the consultation gathered 56 expert responses from across Europe, highlighting gaps in the harmonisation of monitoring, the definition of condition thresholds and data on restoration costs.

Relevance for EuroMarine members

Experts from EuroMarine member organisations are invited to contribute their knowledge of marine habitat mapping, condition assessment and restoration, directly informing guidance for EU Member States.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the granting authority, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project: LIFE MAPPER, 101213793.

EU emblem: Co-funded by the European Union (card)